this is something, to eliminate this space, it is not going to solve anybody pose a problem. -- anybody's problem. >> i'm a native san franciscan. i was born and grew up just around the corner from dispersal that you are talking about. i have a lot of memories of this, i used to play there as a child, and that green space, to look over is just beautiful. it is part of what makes san francisco unique. if they start taking away these places, it changes the look of the city and so forth. i hope that you will take that into consideration. i can tell you after world war two, i stood there with my

sister watching the cars honking in keeping coming up market street. the thought that it would be taken away now is just -- i hate to see that happen. >> i am the founder of kitchen garden, we started in 2009 and our mission is to create a network of community gardens in san francisco, the people grow food and become self-reliant and resilience. we began working with the slow earlier this year to create a community garden in the neighborhood. we have been assisting them getting access to the site, creating a comprehensive site plan, coordinating work days,

volunteers, tools, and materials. we met with the enormous support, so happy not only to come together, but looking forward to growing food to gather and seeing a site that has been vacant for so long, looking forward to growing food rather than leads and the garbage. growing food in san francisco has become more and more popular with the increase in poverty. we look forward to creating something near shanghai. supervisor mar: how long does it normally take you between first contact with a potential community garden to clear it out and began planting vegetables and other goods items? >> it depends on the site. for this site, it took a couple months to get our heads together and figure out what we wanted to

do, to start meeting. they can take as little as a few weeks. >> and the neighbors have been proactively involved? >> absolutely, it would not be happening without them. we have been giving them the information, letting them know what the structures are, but it would not be happening without them. gary has been the ringleader pulling us together and it would not be happening without the neighbors. have been coming out every time we have a work day, even if it is raining out. as the urban agriculture environments and then -- supervisor mar: has the urban and agricultural alliance been involved? >> they have been giving us support for where to go from here and helping us figure out to go to the parks trust to get

sponsorship, and really creating a network and a community. supervisor mar: it would be interesting to see how you utilize that property because i understand you might have to make terraces. >> we don't usually select a site, it select us. we are very aware of the challenge is there, but also the potentials. a lot of sun, so at a neighborhood that oftentimes can be foggy, having a self-effacing slope is really important. i like to envision southern italy when i think about the slow and how they grow their citrus trees. if it can happen there, i think we can do it in san francisco.

supervisor wiener: let me call the next speakers. [reading names] >> i am a resident of 59 morris street and the men here support of maintaining green space which is under consideration at this point. it is just an extraordinary possibility to have on the open space and green is that san francisco is speaking of, and we're trying to be as natural as possible. i recall a former mayor wanting to plant grown trees. it also gives an opportunity for the neighborhood to get

together, which normally doesn't. certain families, but mostly working people, it is an opportunity for that kind of ambiance to form. the location is a prime one for those going up as tourists. this is not so superficial because of our city is reliant on tourism. many are wearing lederhosen and sometimes walking sticks. they think it is just marvelous to be able spot that particular spot and looked out and say how much of on the field in seeing the beautiful city that they have. i do support the proposition.

>> i live in the neighborhood as a member of the corbett hegiths ights neighbors. i support this so that we can have a large open space. thank you for your consideration. >> i am with the housing rights committee end also with q.u.e.e.n. there is no more urgent need then for affordable housing as you noted in the new york times recently. we don't have enough housing here in san francisco. that is certainly true in the lbgt community.

30% of homeless youth are queer. 40% of people with aids are not housed. there is such an urgent need for housing. a number of the sales could go to finish up the funding because we know that the mayor's office of housing does not have the funding needed for that project. we could use the money from the sale of this property to fund 109 units. the rest of the money could be used in district 8 for housing with people with aids and seniors that desperately needed. there is a possible compromise here. let us buy the land and turning

it into a park? use the money to fund affordable housing. supervisor mar: the community once a garden and open space. what do you suggest? >> may be a donor can come in and put up some money. affordable housing is the most urgent need we have. supervisor cohen: u r -- and you have a donor in mind? >> no. supervisor cohen: it seems the are mostly in support of having the money go towards affordable housing. >> we feel that the building of affordable housing, particularly for the lbgt community is a

desparaterate need. there are so many people homeless and our community, particularly use and people with aids. we desperately need this money. i don't believe, honestly, that the money will materialize for the 109 units of senior housing. supervisor cohen: the mayor's office of housing is in favor of this transfer, right? supervisor mar: i will ask for ideas, if the property is not going to be used for surplus housing, what strategy do they have to raise the funds for the critical need. >> even hud will be holding a conference in d.c. to talk about

housing. they recognize that there is such a need for lgbt housing. supervisor mar: thank you. next speaker. >> i have lived in the neighborhood for 35 years and hah hah heartily support the agenda item #1 of supervisor wiener. >supervisor mar: thank you. >> i am a neighbor and i've lived there for 30 years now. the spot we're talking about is a wonderful green area, the trees are gorgeous, and it would be great to retain some green space in san francisco.

>> i am a resident, i have been there for 21 years. i worked on green pockets of wonderful areas and they are absolutely priceless. we can't replace a cold and beautiful trees with something new and the lesser when there is so little of the in the city. it is important to retain what we can and cannot get rid of things like these beautiful green spaces. and the neighbors, i work with the neighbors. it is a wonderful sense of community created by having these kinds of places. supervisor wiener: the last three speakers. if there are any other speakers, please fill out a card. >> i am a 16-year resident of the neighborhood. i would not in any direct way be

affected one way or the other. i do support this. one thing that hasn't been said is that many years ago, this was a neighborhood maintained a garden area. apparently there was an incident that caused the property to fence it can have access over concerns for liability. it is a difficult piece of photography, as you have heard. it is difficult to market which probably has a lot to do with why it has been vacant. it was never considered a site itself but might be sold to generate funds for public housing. this date back to the prior use. thank you. supervisor wiener: next speaker.

>> i that someone else was in front of me, but i will go ahead. i am a neighbor on clinton street. i am in favor of this for a couple of reasons, to of which are community in the green. we have a lot of concrete spaces and good ideas. when you have $pop-up, a lot of smart people come up with reasons why they think their idea should prevail. i was out in early november to help clean up the site. kind of slow being one-handed and all, but i went out there anyway. i did not see developers of their or anyone from city hall. i didn't see anybody out there but people that will benefit from and help it. i think it is green, that is a good thing to keep, we have

enough concrete. there is not enough affordable housing, for sure. but when we take green for housing, that is a tough trade off. gosh i live with my partner in the 300 block, and i am here to speak in favor of the transfer. i won't take much of your time, only to say that i have been in your area since 1998 and always thought what a shame that such a beautiful parcel had been walled off by a chain-link fence and it has become a dumping ground. people can leave their garbage expecting that the city would be able to pick it up. i was excited the of the neighborhood was coming together to reclaim the space and make it something beautiful for the neighborhood. supervisor wiener: is there any

additional public comment? seeing the and, mr. chairman, can we close -- can we close public comment? did you want to respond to anything? supervisor mar: i am looking at the property on google maps. it overlooks market street with a tremendous view and there could be a potential for creation of housing or other use is there, it does seem fenced off, so open spaces advocated by the community, it would benefit the committee tremendously. one of the questions raised, i think tommy said that in the mayor's office of housing which has the charge of advocating for the creation of affordable housing, if you give up on

surplus properties like this, how are you making it up with other strategies to beef up the need for affordable housing that they are saying is one of the most critical needs in this city. are there other properties they you have in mind that you can raise more capital so that we have more affordable housing? >> and the need for affordable housing is not lost on us for the lack of funding. we're trying to look alternative sites for raising revenue. >> when examples of sites do you have? >> we are still in the evaluation stage, like the port, and not so much land dedication but sites they may have in terms of paying fees. that could generate significant in come or fees whether it is to the jobs housing linkage

program or other fees that can be used in lieu of a modest amount of proceeds relative to the sale of this society. we would like to look the other alternative sites that will generate far more in come. >> one of the speakers said there was a previous garden there. what is the history of the site? >> i believe it was a community garden. it was deemed surplus at the time, it was no longer used for that purpose. we have evaluated if we can sell the site for use it for affordable housing. it was deemed financially unfeasible because of the slope. we have sat on the site because we have not moved forward on the sale or focusing energies on other sales for the development.

supervisor mar: i appreciate the amendments. i hope the office of housing and develop strategies and more specifics about what properties they are looking at. community affordable housing advocates have to be involved when we are talking about the surplus property ordinance and my hope is that in the future, there is that dialogue that goes on. seeing a strong push by the neighborhood residents for open space that benefits the neighborhood, i am supportive of that. i hope it lives up to its charges and is looking for the critical need in the neighborhood. supervisor wiener: i wanted to a knowledge that we have a fairly infinite need for funding for affordable housing in this city at all levels.

having gone through the laguna project and the recent efforts to make sure that we kept the affordable housing commitments there, we are very well aware of that and we need to work very hard to find ways to create more affordable housing. when we are talking about selling off public open space, that is a big deal. and if something is truly surplus property that is not used, sitting there doing nothing, it is one thing. when you have a space that a neighborhood has embraced over the years, we want to create additional grand garden space, we should be hesitant to sell off that space for development, even if the proceeds are going for something that we all value. i think there has to be a different way to do it. i am optimistic and knowing the people involved that they do get

things done in this is going to become a great open space, a great garden space. in five years, we'll take a look. if it is not being used that way, we will have other options. but this will be a long-term space for the community. i think this is all going to work out well, so i move that we forward this to the board with a positive recommendation. supervisor mar: without objection on the amendments. and can we move this forward with a positive recommendation without objection? thank you. call item number two. >> amending the zoning map for conn street. supervisor cohen: this is pretty simple. the item is resounding for a property at 312 conn street.

the property has operated as a theater and more recently as a religious institution with associated community uses. it will enable the property owner to make repairs to the space and to conform to the property zoning with longstanding use. the planning commission unanimously approved this ordinance, and today we have a planning staff, i believe, if you have any questions. perfect timing. i would encourage you to support this item. >> sorry for the delay, i will save my presentation because she covered everything. the planning department

recommended unanimously that the property be rezoned. he z wasone c2 and -- it was zone c2 and will be changed for public zoning. supervisor mar: 81 that would like to speak from the public? >> i am the president of the nonprofit organization and i would like to thank her for all of her efforts on this. supervisor mar: thank you. public comment is closed. in the move this forward without objection? thank you. please call item no. 3. >> accepting the offer for local infrastructure improvements

associated with competition no. 4. >> good afternoon, supervisors. what you have before you is the request to except the pound station which is in mission bay. i will point out where that is. it is located here in the corner.as you can see, it is unh the freeway. the storm water pump station was built consistent with the mission bay redevelopment plan that has been approved by the

redevelopment agency. it also has been accepted and approved by the planning department. it is currently under licence by developer and we deem it acceptable for making the request to you. supervisor mar: left open this up for public comment. anyone that would like to speak? public comment is closed. can we move this forward without objection? miss miller, next item? >> hearing on the city's plans for the cultural program during america's cup. supervisor mar: this hearing has been called to emphasize the huge opportunity that san francisco benefits from the america's cup that comes to us

in 2012 through 2013 and is a huge opportunity for the locally based artists. the cultural program connected to the event will hopefully allow strong involvement from these arts groups. it is important to understand how cultural programming can deliver on the promise of up to 200,000 attendees at day. $1 billion in economic benefits according to the economic reports projection for the event. i'm also interested in finding out how the major financial boom will impact the neighborhood. the three districts included in the report, and the other districts that may be further away. we would like to know how the plan includes the local arts community in programming and

other activity, including individual artists. i wanted to thank mike martin from the economic work force development office. thank you for coming to present on the item. i know how hard the process has been, specifically with the changes in leadership and some of the event authority entities. >> i am the project director in the office of economic and work- force development. i have a brief power point slide presentation today. we will talk a little bit about the arts program and how it relates to what we're talking about in terms of the events in 2012 and 2015. quickly, i will do background about the timeline of the

events had were the events will be. and talk a little bit about the cultural opportunity and some of the early work in understanding how to approach the events. and talk about arts and the economic impact strategy for the city in terms of bringing home those billions of dollars of benefits. without further ado, a quick run through of the alphabet soup of of the partners. we have the city, the project sponsor, working in tandem and in partnership with a number of different entities. the key entities are the america's cup event authority in the race management. primarily, the dividing line has been between these agencies. as you have noted, there has

been restructuring internally, and sort of the face of the events in terms of look and feel. we have been in close coordination with the these entities and we don't anticipate any functional difference. the fourth entity here is the locally formed nonprofit that is charged with raising $32 million of funding to transfer to the city to help with public costs. i will add that the organizing committee has been involved in these discussions, obviously looking for their role not only in talking to potential funders about what they are bringing, but what it means to the city as a whole rather than the specific locations of where the events are. first, i will start with a slide here that tal